Day 31 Cruise - Naughty but nice

Today's Weigh-in: 74.1 kgs

Lost since January 8th 2012: 6.9 kgs


First of all, I am no longer tracking gains. They make me sad and they are not really gains. It takes as much work to gain weight as it does to take it off. I mean, not exactly. It is much easier to eat all you want than controlling what you eat, but you don't gain a kilo over-night unless you really really over did it. Drs and Nutritionists say it takes 3500 calories to gain a pound. So if to maintain you would eat 2000 calories, it means you would have to take in 5500 calories in one day to gain a pound, which isn't even half a kilo. 


If you are behaving, a gain could be anything, it isn't real. If you are misbehaving then it is another story. The only reason I still think it is good to weigh yourself each day, is to keep track of these fluctuations. You might be doing something wrong without knowing. Maybe that cheese you bought has more calories than you thought. Maybe, the meat you bought is more fatty. You might be taking in too much salt, eating too much yogurt. The important thing is that the scale keeps you honest. So, even if it takes a LOT to gain a pound over night, it doesn't take that much to gain it over a few days.

Palazzo Barberini, from my sight-seeing on Sunday

I am saying all this because I had a naughty day. It was brought on by not having lunch and going sightseeing for hours, so I bought a piece of pizza al taglio on my way home because I was starving. The thing is, later that night I wasn't even hungry anymore, but I had some speck which is smoked prosciutto. It wasn't that bad if you count the calories consumed that day, but you can tell it is just bad behavior brought on by bad behavior. Plus, speck is really really salty, so I suffered some bloating the days after. 

The bad thing is not that I fell off the wagon, it is the thought process behind the falling off the wagon. I just wanted to misbehave. I was almost masochistic about it. In any case it is over with. I got it out of my system and I am back on track. It just makes you wonder, the hoarding mentality, of thinking, well I screwed up, I might as well eat all I can find now. Ok, I didn't eat all I could find, but I thought about it. 


I honestly believe a few cheat meals are not a bad idea. They actually give your body a jolt, especially when you hit a plateau. When they are rational, when they are planned, when they are controlled, it is not bad to eat something not in the diet. Not often. Not more than once a week, preferably much less than that. What kind of scared me was that I didn't care about myself when I made the decision of eating more. I wasn't hungry. Eating the pizza isn't what bothers me, I can deal with that and not feel guilty. It was what came after. That is what is dangerous for a diet. 


The important thing is not to feel defeated by one mishap. The goal is so much more important than anything else. If you are on this journey it is because it really matters. If you are really willing to lose the weight, the bigger picture is what counts. Your weight will fluctuate, you will be happy some days, less happy others, but if you keep at it, if it is really more important to you to lose weight than to eat a piece of pizza, you will get back on track and you will lose the weight. 


One more thing, I got a massive headache the day after I had the pizza. I guess it was the wheat. Crazy how I went back to eating right and it was gone. 

Day 2 Attack - Rest and probably too much dairy

Morning Weigh-in: 76.4 kgs

Daily Loss: 1 kgs

I love the first day of a diet, you always start with a BANG!! That said, I know I didn't really lose much, I probably just shed a lot of water weight. But I will take what I can, especially because I doubt I will be very successful tomorrow. The great thing is I am were I left off when I left the Dukan diet in February and that I reached my first mini-goal!

I went shopping for groceries today, trying to keep in mind also the lessons learnt from "Wheat Belly". I was going to buy the fake crab but when I read the label it said it contained gluten, so I passed. I bought bresaola again, but that one is gluten free. The problem with today might be too much dairy. I am not completely sure I over did it. I will just have to wait and see.

My activity level today was limited to walking to the supermarket and back, so only a few blocks each way. In my defense I woke up at 6 am to see my dad off, and I had barely slept. So today I just lounged all day doing mostly nothing and sleeping. I really needed that.

Living without Wheat?

I, like many others, have been reading "Wheat Belly", the book by William Davis, MD, that talks about the evil that is modern "Triticum Aestivum", better known as wheat.

I must admit I only skimmed the super science-y stuff, and only read the parts that directly interested me. In a nut-shell, the book explains how wheat has been changed over the years to offer a more efficient higher-yielding crop, and that because of these changes, wheat consumption is the underlying cause of obesity, and different ailments including high blood pressure, triglycerides, diabetes, celiac disease and even the exacerbation of autism and schizophrenia.

As a Dukaneer, I have of course gone through a period of no-wheat consumption and I must say I have experienced the benefits the Dr describes. I am not the typical "Wheat Belly" case, as I don't collect fat around my abdomen, and I don't suffer any of the more serious ailments described in the book, but I am still in my mid-thirties, so if I continue consuming wheat I might just end up there. What I do know, and have known for a while, is that I am a "wheat addict". While on Dukan though, I experienced the relief of not needing to gorge on carbs at 6pm every night. I read on the Dukan book, as well as in many blogs, that reduced hunger and cravings were a result of "ketosis". "Wheat Belly" explains that once you give up wheat, you forgo the addiction and you no longer eat irrationally, but as a result of actual hunger.  Additionally, during the break from the diet I have returned to my usual ways, experiencing a void in the pit of my stomach that I wish to fill with carbs, but that can never really be filled. I also find it harder to get up in the morning and I am back to having morning headaches.

What now though? Knowing that wheat is not only the cause of my extra kilos but an evil, evil crop, am I really contemplating never eating anything containing wheat ever again? Is it even possible? As the book explains, wheat is in EVERYTHING, not only cookies, cereal and bread, it is in pills and soups, and many other processed foods. I must say I am definitely willing to give it a try, but I will have to wait for the Consolidation Phase to truly test my resolve. I do live in Italy after all. The good news is that pasta is made of "Triticum durum", which apparently is not as bad.